Declaration for the Protection of the Amazon Sacred Headwaters

This urgent 2019 declaration, issued by 17 Indigenous federations from Ecuador and Peru and allied organizations, is a powerful call to protect the 74 million acres of the Amazon “Sacred Headwaters” region—home to the Napo, Pastaza, and Marañón river basins. Grounded in ancestral cosmologies and ecological rights, the declaration demands legal recognition of Indigenous (and Nature’s) rights, an end to fossil fuel extraction, mining, industrial agriculture, and new mega-infrastructure, and the adoption of a Bioregional Plan 2030 aligned with Buen Vivir principles.

This document represents a landmark moment in the resurgence of bioregional, rights-based, Indigenous-led environmental governance: it reframes the Amazon as a living entity, demands equitable participation of Indigenous Peoples in decision-making, and sets a blueprint for legal and ecological protection across national borders. It’s a key resource for anyone interested in ecological justice, decolonial governance, and environmental rights.

I want to Act and I have under 10 minutes

Source: Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance (Cuencas Sagradas)

Functional Sector: Environment, Justice

Date Added: 2025-06-11

	Category: Indigenous Advocacy
	Format: Article
	Duration: under 10 minutes